@samharper Every 3DS game is region locked, and Atlus has no European operation. Their parent company is currently going through bankruptcy, too, so even if they wanted to release it in Europe they wouldn't be able to set up in the EU anyway.

And Demon's Souls was originally a Sony published game - blame SCE for not releasing it themselves! Reply+1

Very good game, but the alignment system indirectly ruined the end of my first play through. It'll be a while before I pick up the inclination to try again from a backed up save. Actually, the whole thing really made the 3DS save backup facility a godsend as I only have to replay ten hours of game instead of forty to get back to where the game splits off.

Edit: one thing that might be worth mentioning for potential importers is that the StreetPass functionality is worthless if you aren't anywhere that will get hits. Luckily it isn't a Bravely Default situation where (as far as I can tell) that game is seriously affected by its absence.

Also, no words for the amazing soundtrack? It starts off great and gets better as you go through. Best music so far in 2013, in my opinion. Reply+6

Not sure why they'd need to spend the time and effort on a narration to say "we thought we could make more money this way" or "feature creep meant we would never finish making the main game otherwise". Reply+11

It looks like a pisstake video someone might make of what Strider might have looked like if they'd made it in Unreal Engine 3. Slow, imprecise (and they know it - Hiryu has become a bullet sponge) and dull looking. Reply0

@Cappy Yes it does. It slows down quite a bit less than 7 though, as a comparison. It spends most of its time somewhere between 30 and 60 but the Kakusei attacks with lots of enemies can do a number on the frame rate. Reply+1

This is good, but it might be worth holding on for One Piece Pirate Warriors 2. The Vita version (sadly not coming out here) managed to get me to forget about DW8 because it's so much more fun. The fact I didn't know anything about the story and characters helped, too. Reply+1

@wayneh The problem is that this is the card the original 680 should have been, if not for the relatively weak showing of the 7900 series. That and the fact that they stuck another $150 on top of the 680 means that they're getting closer and closer to 8800 GTX Ultra levels of taking the piss. Meanwhile I have a GTX 570 I paid 300 quid for in 2010 and there's still no card which looks like it's worth the cash to upgrade. Reply+9

I didn't enjoy 8 that much, even though I got it on day 1 on the Japanese PSN; perhaps I'm getting sick of the story. I've been playing a fair amount of One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 on Vita, though, which is Omega Force's best game in ages, even though I don't know the first thing about the source material. As DW moves more and more toward the Basara style of linear stages, it's really refreshing to have to move all around the battlefield in One Piece. It's more like Samurai Warriors in that respect. Reply+1

I'd love to see a pc version with a higher "parts" count, more than higher res textures and so on. On big things like cars and Irvings in the demo it was a little distracting to see large pieces disappear when the object count got too high. Reply+2

@Canyarion The tax argument is bollocks. When you buy game X, you get 10% of that game's value back in the US (where tax is paid separately) and Japan (where tax is included like it is here). It's just Europeans getting a worse deal from Nintendo. Reply+3

Someone brought up game sharing in the last PSN thread - maybe people are splitting the 50 and getting a digital copy for 25 quid each. Given the resale value of your average yearly sports sim it seems a bit less silly, albeit very much against the spirit of the rules. Reply+5

@ShiftyGeezer I admit I haven't, although I'd like to see what legal language they would use in such a situation. But even if it were included in an EULA, it certainly doesn't seem like a proportionate response to deny access or easy recovery to locally stored files nine months after launch. Reply+2

According to Wololo, Sony have really locked down external access to the memory card - you used to be able to copy certain things through the PC management software, now you can't. It doesn't take a massive leap of faith to see that as connected.

What is pretty terrible, though, is people who have been doing the account change trick on a single card being locked out of their saves. There was no warning, the update package didn't suggest that they back their stuff up - all they can do is hope they have access to a Vita with an earlier firmware on it.

Random security updates disabling loopholes and undocumented features is one of the things you have to accept as a user in a closed system. Potentially losing hundreds of hours of game progress without warning, not having done anything wrong? That's not acceptable. Reply+12

This is actually the third time they've put on a Phoenix Wright-themed show. I've been to the Takarazuka Revue before, it's good fun if occasionally hard to follow for a foreigner - the actors in the male parts have very similar voices.

What's interesting about this is that, in fitting with the European-inspired aesthetic and style, they use the Western translated names - the main character in the play is Miles Edgeworth, not Kenji Mitsurugi, for example. Reply+1

@MikeRox It's a score attack game with an emphasis on speed and smoothness (which is why they hyped up the analogue controller at the time). The main challenge and risk is getting and staying in Bonus Time as long as possible. Since every time you complete a 'lap' of a stage you can either end the stage or go for another lap, there's a risk/reward element to either getting more points or perhaps overstretching and losing almost all your points for that stage.

In the Wii version, when you complete the lap after destroying the Ideya Prison it ends the level, with no option to fly past the start/end point. I think they also dicked around with the drill boost system. The Saturn version didn't have any horrible, horrible unskippable cutscenes or terrible side games either. Reply+1

On the subject of voices changing, I'm playing through Persona 4 Golden on Vita and the new lines for Kuma/Teddie sound super rough, less than 4 years after the original game was released. Rise has changed a fair bit, too. Reply+1

Surprised that Rich Leadbetter didn't handle this, given how much of a VF fan he is (or at least said he was in SSM!). Maybe he's too busy playing it.

As an aside, the original arcade versions did occasionally drop the odd frame and it would really throw you off - it only happened on certain stages when certain characters would do a tech roll to the side, causing the camera to pan. Dealing with tech rolls on the attacking side requires good timing, so slowdown was a real pain. Reply+3

@spacewarrior AKI are actually called "syn Sophia" now. They've been mostly working on portables. They did the first Yakuza Black Panther game on PSP (great, super smooth 60fps fighting engine with lots of fighting styles), though Sega took it inhouse for the sequel. The last wrestling game they did was a Kinnikuman licence which came out in arcades in 2005, and is available for PS2 in Japan. It's really fun and silly, lots of outlandish special moves. It's probably more strike-based than you would expect after something like No Mercy, though.

edit: I take it back, their website suggests they did some work on the second one as well. If you have a PSP, check out the demo for the second one if you can - you should be able to muddle through the Japanese and follow the arrows. Reply+2

Good article. He clearly doesn't take himself too seriously, but there is clearly a market for his games. I can definitely see more merit in creating something which would appeal to those slightly older people who sometimes do the same job than another licensed cash in.

I really like the sound of that Ice Cream Van Simulator, too - from a purely game perspective, you could look at it like a cross between Theme Park and Transport Tycoon. Buying stock, getting more and better vans, employing drivers, dealing with trends, picking the best areas throughout the year... someone should make that! Reply+12

Water and dust resistance are extremely common on Japanese phones, as is a pathetically tiny battery. Your experience with the Panasonic seems to match my impressions of Japanese Android phones - skinned to hell and back, thin and attractive but with terrible battery life and poor technical specs. Reply+7

Amazed it has taken so long, given how much the Japanese government is in the pocket of big business. Remember that this is the country that actually had second hand game sales effectively banned. Reply+9

@LLJaf The analogue stick feels very digital, so I use the dpad, which feels great. You're right about Outrun, that was ruined on PSP by the analogue stick controls. My hands would cramp up after one full run! Apparently the PSP emulator on Vita runs at 333MHz too, so it would smooth out the framerate as well. Reply0

@Akira_Tenshi it was definitely a retail release in Japan, one more expensive than most titles. Even the downloadable version cost a thousand yen more than most other titles, and there's DLC as well. I can't see Konami releasing it at anything other than full price, and it follows that a full price release would assumably come out at retail.

It isn't like it is full of voice acting or anything so I don't see it being a Warriors Orochi 3 situation, where SCEA would only approve it for digital distribution. Reply0

A new engine and a new producer - that's a good way to make me take another look at a series that has felt tired for quite a long time now. I just hope they don't cast Seabass down the pit of obscurity like they did with Koji Igarashi - just because his "main" series has lost momentum, that's no reason to have him work on trash like Otomedius. Reply+2

Maybe they're working out a way to have a ridiculous gacha system in there to squeeze as much as they can out of fans. I didn't buy their baseball game because they wanted more for an average game and then had that ripoff system on top. Reply-1

@MattEdWithCheese I really hope it is. If nothing else it means that a much higher proportion of my cash goes to the people who actually make the games, rather than a bunch of middlemen. Nintendo need to stick their necks out like Sony did and make simultaneous digital releases mandatory. Reply+2